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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 25, 2013 8:20:23 GMT -5
Kids Is Kids (1927)
Wheezer is wrongly identified as the 30 year old son of wealthy midgets who are visiting the area and staying at a swanky hotel. He is taken back to the hotel by police who have been searching high and low for the missing midget. After experimenting with cigars and brandy, while his new midget 'parents' are out visiting an art exhibition, the inebriated Wheezer spots the Gang from the balcony of the hotel suite. He calls the reception and tells the hotel's manager that he wants the Gang to be brought straight up to his suite. Once the Gang arrive at the suite mayhem ensues. Joe constantly rings room service and orders huge bowls of ice cream and platters of cream cakes. Wheezer and Jean play dressing up with the expensive clothes in the wardrobes. Jackie and Harry hold a trampolining competition on the beds. Jay R. Smith simply sits down to read a newspaper while he smokes a cigar, that is until he suddenly feels queasy and rushes out to vomit over the edge of the balcony. Mary Ann is busy chasing the mischievous and destructive Elmer the monkey around the hotel suite, aided by Petey who manages to knock over and break several large and expensive vases. While searching for Elmer in the kitchen Mary Ann discovers the missing midget son, who had been accidentally locked inside a kitchen cupboard earlier that day. Shortly afterwards the police arrived, having been called by Wheezer's irate and vomit spattered midget 'parents.' Their real son however quickly comes to the Gang's rescue by declaring that they had saved his life and that their hi-jinks were simply to be expected, after all 'kids is kids,' he explains. This short lacked any real originality other than having Wheezer being wrongly identified as a midget in place of the more traditional midget being wrongly identified as a child plot, which the studio used on a number of occasions. Apart from that the predictable destruction of an expensive hotel suite is simply a repeat of similar scenes enacted in any number of other Our Gang episodes. While Kids Is Kids is not one of the worse shorts ever made it certainly isn't one to remember either, which is probably why it has been largely forgotten until now.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 25, 2013 12:21:32 GMT -5
Alfalfa (1935) - Carl Switzer's second Our Gang short. Spanky and the gang try to put on a performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Spanky plays Uncle Tom (in blackface), Buckwheat plays Topsy, Marianne Edwards plays Eva, and Scotty plays Marks the lawyer. Poor Stymie's role was reduced so much by this point that he merely plays an audience member. Jerry Tucker and Leonard Kibrick also sit in the audience and pelt the gang with food. The new kid in town, Alfalfa, keeps trying to interrupt the play by singing "She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain". Spanky constantly kicks him out. Otherwise, the film largely follows "Uncle Tom's Uncle", and "Spanky". However, the film ends with Alfalfa and Harold (who randomly shows up) singing "Old Man River".
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 25, 2013 15:48:22 GMT -5
The B Team (1936)
Our Gang are due to play the Gas House Kids in the local championship final at baseball. Unfortunately the entire Gang are struck down by a stomach bug and call upon their understudies to replace them. For most of this two reeler center stage is taken by B team captain Harold Switzer, strongly supported by ace pitcher Uh-huh and that devil with a bat, Jerry Tucker. Old Gangers Joe Cobb, Farina and Bonedust make cameo return appearances as fielders and the match referee is played by Mickey Daniels. The surprise inclusion of Scooter Lowry as captain of the Gas House Kids is probably the highlight of the short, particularly his punch up with his number one hitter Harry Spear. In the end the Gas House Kids are so busy fighting among themselves that Mickey Daniels awards the championship trophy to the Our Gang B team and their manager, played by acting newcomer Walter Matthau.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 25, 2013 16:27:00 GMT -5
Valentine's Day (1944)
Although Our Gang's popularity had plummeted during the last few years of the series there was still a public outcry when MGM finally pulled the plug. Ardent fans complained that the series had gone out with a whimper and that there had been no satisfactory conclusion. MGM executives finally bowed to the public demands and commissioned one final episode.
The plot was simple enough; Mickey Gubitosi is in love with Janet but too shy to tell her so he organizes a surprise concert intending to sing her a love song as the show's grand finale. Froggy puts on a ventriloquist act, Janet sings an excruciating bad comic number and local boys the Glenn Miller Orchestra play a song about a Little Brown Jug accompanied by a blacked up teenage vocalist, wearing a top hat and tails, who sings strangely out of tune. At the end of the show Mickey performs his love song to Janet who blows him a kiss and invites him to join her in the front row of the theater with the rest of the Gang. The blacked up vocalist from the Glenn Miller Orchestra parts the stage curtains and steps forward carrying a violin case. Without a word he wipes one white gloved hand across his blacked up face to reveal a familiar crop of freckles. Then he removes his top hat and a tell tale cowlick is revealed. He smiles at the puzzled Our Gang members, opens his violin case and withdraws a machine gun. "Spanky sends his greetings kids," Alfalfa sneers, "Happy Valentine's Day." The screen turns black to the staccato rattle of machine gun fire.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 25, 2013 21:06:27 GMT -5
That Our Gang of Mine (1988) - A compilation of clips from the silent Our Gang shorts such as "The Champeen!", "Giants Vs. Yanks", "The Big Stink", "Dogs of War!", "Nothing But Trouble", "Wiggle Your Ears", "Melting Clokcs", "Kids is Kids", "Dog Heaven", "Shivering Spooks", and many others. Jerry Lewis narrates, but rather than letting most of the clips play by themselves, the producers of this film had Jerry dub all of the actors' lines. Boy, does it get annoying fast. The fact that Jerry improvises random lines for most of the film doesn't help at all. We get weird scenes of Mickey telling Joe to eat a pencil, little Wheezer talking in a New York gangsters' accent, and Farina speaking garbled Chinese.
Hail, Hail, Our Gang's All Here (1989) - Following the success (?) of the last compilation, Jerry returned to do another one. This time, the compilation consists of 'classic' MGM shorts such as "Calling All Kids", "Doin' Their Bit", Election Daze", "Little Miss Pinkerton", "Don't Lie", "Time Out For Lessons", and others. Jerry must have realized how bad these shorts were, because when narrating, he pretty much begs the audience to laugh (as he refuses to be in anything that doesn't have at least some humor in it). Sadly, none of the chosen clips are especially funny.
The Little Rascals Halloween Special (1980) - Following the success of "The Little Rascals Christmas Special", King World decided to produce a slew of animated holiday-themed Rascals specials to compete with the yearly Peanuts specials. In this half hour cartoon, Spanky and Porky can't decide what they want to dress up as for Halloween. The Rascals try to provide some assistance by singing a cheesy song. The kids then try on various outfits, including one that looks suspiciously like that Klan-like ghost costume from "Shivering Spooks". Alfalfa is even cockier than he was in the last special. Darla and Stymie spend a good chunk of their screen time giving educational advice on trick-or-treating. Like those awful PSA's, these lessons are forced down our throats even more than an MGM short's lessons. Eventually, the kids all decide on what to trick-or-treating as: themselves. Why? "It's best to be yourself then someone else". Matthew Beard cameos as the butcher from the previous special. As Darla Hood had sadly passed on, the role of Spanky and Porky's mother is now played by Annette Funicello.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 26, 2013 8:13:13 GMT -5
As Nature Intended (1967)
As part of their drive towards increasing awareness of the naturist movement the US Board of Clothesless Enjoyment produced what appears to be an Our Gang themed documentary. Shot in color but without any dialogue the movie shows a gang of seven youngsters enjoying themselves at a naturist beach. The children are uncredited so there is no firm documented evidence that they were intended to be playing the parts of the Little Rascals but the similarities are surely more than coincidental. The only girl of the group is played by a small girl with short dark hair, except for one inexplicable scene in which she returns from a visit to an ice cream vendor with blonde hair. Two chubby boys who look like brothers bear more than a passing resemblance to Porky & Spanky. There is another boy who is the only one of the group who wears any clothing at all, in his case a baseball cap wore sideways. There is one black boy with a hairstyle which is virtually identical to that of Buckwheat. A tall boy with short dark wavy hair and spectacles could easily be mistaken for Waldo. The final boy in the group is skinny, taller than most of the rest and has a fine crop of freckles. He also has slicked down black hair, parted in the center and of course he has that little bit that sticks up. Although shown widely in cinemas at the time of it's release, mainly during intermissions between feature films, it has since virtually vanished into cinematic obscurity.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 26, 2013 8:57:33 GMT -5
Moon Shine (1927)
In this short the Gang spending the first couple of minutes racing dog powered soap box cars. They take a short break and discuss other dog powered contraptions they could make. Joe suggests they should have a competition to build the best dog powered vehicle and they all agree. A week later they unveil their pooch powered machines. Jackie has built a motorcycle powered by a dachshund in a large hamster wheel. Mary Ann and Jean combined their efforts to make a dolls merry go round powered by a spaniel. Farina's effort is a washing machine that doesn't work because his dog is too lazy to operate it. Joe has constructed a dog powered mobile chicken rotisserie. Jay R. Smith, Wheezer and Harry, who are brothers that week, unveil a nine dog powered submarine with living accommodation for seven, a games room and an indoor swimming pool. The sub is also equipped with a fully operational weapons system, which Harry demonstrates by blowing up five nearby barns. Joe almost chokes on his doughnut and shakes his head. "The rest of us can't compete with your sub, I guess you are the winners". "Just a minute you haven't seen my machine yet," calls Scooter, who has just arrived pulling a long hand cart containing something hidden under canvas sheets. Scooter removed the sheets and reveals a long tubular object, "I'll need a hand, " he explains. "It has to stand up on this end." What is it?" Asks a befuddled Jackie, as he scratches his head in wonderment. The Gang stand and stare at the contraption in speechless admiration. Eventually Jay R. Smith says, "It's really good an' all Scooter but what is it? What does it do?" Scooter grins, "I call it a Rock-kit," he explains. "See that big wheel in the cart." The gang nod. "Well I put seventy eight dogs in that to provide the power, through that long pole that goes into the side of my Rock-kit. Then when they've got it fully powered up I open that hatch at the bottom and I dump four tons of rocks onto the ground. The Rock-kit is then suddenly lightened and all the dog power makes it shoot into the air." He grins, "With me in it." The gang are stunned, "You mean it flies?" Asked Joe eventually. Scooter nodded enthusiastically and grinned, then he climbed inside his contraption. The dog powered wheel spun furiously, the spinning pole attached to the side of the Rock-kit turned faster and faster. Suddenly there as loud crash as four tons of rocks were released onto the ground and to the gang's total surprise the Rock-kit shot soundlessly into the air, getting rapidly smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared from sight. "How's he gonna git back?" Asked Farina. Joe shrugged, "I dunno, unless there are dogs living on the moon." "I'm having his cart," declared Harry, "He won't be needing it any more." He clenched both fists, "Anyone disagree?" The Gang rapidly shook their heads.
As it turned out Harry was right. Scooter didn't need the cart anymore because he never returned to the series until his surprise cameo appearance in 'The B Team' nine years later. Strangely although Scooter was then in his late teens he still had the appearance of a boy of 9 or 10. After it's initial studio screening the only copy of the film was seized by CIA agents and declared top secret because of the advanced technology it contained. All trace of the movie and its contents were completely removed from public records until very recently when Wikileaks founder Julian Assange posted a signed statement by former Rascal Harry Spear, which I've condensed into the synopsis above.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 27, 2013 18:12:54 GMT -5
Stop, Drop, and Roll (1941) - The sequel to "1-2-3-Go!". The film opens with the gang playing a game of football. Mickey (who just got his cast off of his leg) goes long for a catch, but winds up running straight into a nearby house fire. The gang pull him out, and call for help. Mickey says, "I caught it, fellas...", before passing out.
He goes to the hospital, where the doctor scolds the gang for not knowing the proper way to get a fire off of them: stop, drop, and roll. Why the doctor never questions Mickey's reason for running straight into a fire is anybody's guess.
Spanky decides to form a club to teach people the proper way to deal with catching on fire. Some ridiculous scenes of kids lighting matches in order to properly practice fire safety appear. Froggy wants to go a step further, and lights his entire body on fire. After going through the motions Spanky taught him, he surprisingly comes out completely unharmed. There's some bad joke about Buckwheat worrying that nobody could find him in a fire.
Later, we see some even more ridiculous bits of adults trying to light themselves on fire, and go through the kids' motions. A snooty rich couple refuse to partake in such "vulgar behavior". Mickey Gubitosi's little sister randomly shows up, and says to the couple "You can do it". They immediately have a change of heart, and join the other adults. Afterwards, the wealthy lady announces that she's going to mention the gang's club at her next society meeting.
At city hall, the gang are rewarded for keeping the Greenpoint community safe, and are asked to give a speech. The kids elect Froggy to deliver the speech. He walks up the podium, and immediately explodes. The janitor walks by and says, "I knew I shouldn't have wiped the podium with gasoline". And wouldn't you know it, everyone laughs at this unfunny joke
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Post by RJH on Jun 27, 2013 23:55:20 GMT -5
Our Rapscallions (1922) - In this first effort, a sweet old lady affectionately known as "Granny" is losing business at her jewelry store thanks to an unscrupulous rival who moves into town. Ernie gets the idea to put shaving cream on a neighborhood dog and have him scare the rival's customers. One of the Doty twins stands inside the rival's store and the other outside in a lame attempt to confuse customers. Meanwhile a love triangle develops between Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, and Peggy Cartwright, but it remains unresolved after Granny asks him who would appreciate jewelry more. Meanwhile the dog chases one customer down an alley and around a corner. Jackie Condon goes to retrieve the dog, but returns with a similar dog that really is rabid. This dog bites everyone in the gang and causes mayhem in Granny's store. The gang then has to endure a long set of rabies shots, but the good news is that Granny gets a large check from her insurance company and is able to move away to a comfortable retirement.
Hal Roach was so dismayed at the finished product that he ordered every copy destroyed, and fired many of the staff. He changed the name of the short and used only some of the child actors for what would be come the first official Our Gang comedy produced.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 28, 2013 14:56:03 GMT -5
Watching Paint (1944)
The episode started with Froggy painting a bench outside the Gang's barn. Janet arrived and asks him if he had a 'Beware: wet paint,' sign to warn people not to sit on the freshly painted bench. Froggy shook his head and admitted that he didn't have one. "In that case" said Janet, taking charge in an extremely forceful and bossy manner. "We'd better wait here until it drys so we can warn other children not to sit on the wet paint because if the do they might spoil their clothes." So that was exactly what they did, for the remaining eight and a half minutes of the short Froggy and Janet watched paint dry. At one point Janet sang an incredibly irritating little ditty about wet paint but the eight and a half minutes were much enlivened when every 30 seconds Froggy croaked, "Is it dry yet?" Although now presumed lost several eminent film historians cite it as the cream of the later MGM shorts, up there with "Watching Grass Grow" and "Gee, Snails Are Fast!"
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 28, 2013 16:09:42 GMT -5
It's All Relative (1940)
In this early example of a 'worthy' MGM short the producers attempted to explain Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity in a way that children could understand. Unfortunately neither the director or screen writers had a clue what Einstein was referring to and the result is a confused mess in which the thirteen year old Alfalfa meets his seven year old self after he steps through a rectangular black doorway which appears in the middle of a field. The younger version of himself is wearing a checked shirt and football protective gear, and he's just about to knock at the house of his friend Spanky. "Hi Alfalfa" greets the older Alfalfa. "How do you know my name?" Asks the younger Alfalfa, "I've never met you before. I don't know who you are." "Well I know all about you," Replies the older version of Alfalfa, "I know that you dropped chewing gum inside Scotty's baseball cap and it stuck to his head. And I know that tomorrow you're gonna spend three hours with a fountain pen and a mirror, counting your freckles and crossing them out with the pen. I can save you the trouble if you want. You've got eight thousand nine hundred and forty seven but you won't believe me and you're gonna count them anyway. I also know that you are going to ask Spanky to come and play football but you'll get stuck with minding baby Lynne. I'd suggest that you sing her a lullaby if I were you, which I am." The younger version of himself refuses to believe that they are the same person and accuses the older Alfalfa of being one of those older boys he's been warned by his parents and teachers to stay away from. At this point a circular black window appears in the sky and Spanky pokes his head out and warns the watching boys and girls to heed their parent's advice about older boys who offer them cigarettes and illegal imported Canadian Whiskey. Spanky withdraws his head and the Alfalfa action resumes. The younger Alfalfa warns the older version of himself to stay away or he'll shoot him with his cowboy six shooter. "Don't be silly," the older Alfalfa replies, "If you'd shot me I'd be dead so I could never have grown up and been able to come back here now would I?" He turns to face the camera and asked again, "Would I? I dunno?" The younger version of himself throws the six shooter at the older Alfalfa and it hits him squarely between the eyes. "Ouch" complains the older Alfalfa, "That really hurt you little rascal." The younger Alfalfa kicks him in the shin and blows a raspberry at him. Totally infuriated by now the older Alfalfa smacks his younger self right in the mouth. Both Alfalfa's squeal and clutch their mouths and both Alfalfa's spit out a tooth. "Don't you know anything?" Asks a three year old Spanky, who steps out of a triangular black doorway which has just appeared in the middle of the lawn. "You're both the same person so if you hit the other one you are simply hitting yourself." "Remarkable" comments a small boy, who suddenly appears sitting on the lowest branch of a nearby tree before disappearing again. "So if you are me," says the younger Alfalfa, "what number am I thinking of?" "Green" replies the older Alfalfa. "Darn, you cheated," replies his younger self. "Anyway I must go back to the future now," says the older Alfalfa, "I only came back here to knock out your tooth because I'm going to be making a soundie called The Singing Lesson with Charles Judels and I needed to lose a tooth." The older Alfalfa clicks his fingers and the black rectangular door appears and he steps through it and disappears. "Gee," says the younger Alfalfa, looking directly at the camera, "Now I understand Special Relativity perfectly. If only my older self could return again sometime and explain Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle to me." "No problem," replies his older self, stepping out from behind a late 1950s car which wasn't there a second before, "I'll come back yesterday and explain it to you." "Don't bother," replies his younger self, "I already know all about it, you told me yesterday."
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 30, 2013 0:28:43 GMT -5
Sleepy Weeks (1929) - One of the series' earliest talkies. The entire twenty minutes is literally just the gang lounging outside, and talking slowly. Joe wants to get a slice of his mom's pie, but his too lazy to get up. He asks brother Chubby to get it for him, who claims he can't get up because of a medical condition. Chubby asks Farina, who claims that he just got up, but that everyone blinked too quickly too see him in action. Farina asks Jean, who claims to not be able walk after an incident with a pin. Jean asks Harry, who just gives her a mean look, and uses some sexist terms. Harry asks Mary Ann, who socks him in the jaw. Mary asks Wheezer, who has fallen asleep alongside Petey. The kids continue to rest. A storm approaches, and the gang still sit around, refusing to go inside.
The Old Pupil (1940) - One of the gang's old classmates, Dwayne Hickman, moves back into town. Darla and Sally (Juanita Quigley) immediately fall for him, and begin to spend less time with the boys. Spanky and Alfalfa loudly complain about the girls ditching them at lunch, while Mickey starts crying. Dwayne (who doesn't care for girls) meets up with the boys in the Gang to teach Darla and Sally a lesson. Darla and Sally show up at Dwayne's house, where Dwayne has the girls take part in various "unladylike" activities (playing football in the mud, boxing, etc.). The girls, who are now black and blue from Dwayne (which leads to another bad racial pun involving Buckwheat) learn their lesson, and eat lunch with the boys the following day.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 30, 2013 10:38:56 GMT -5
Little Rascals (1944)
Froggy, Buckwheat and Janet are disturbed when they spot a group of pauper children in ragged clothes arguing over a piece of wood. "This isn't right," says Janet, "Those children don't live around here, they couldn't afford to, they should go back to where they belong." "That would be the gutter by the look of things," agrees Buckwheat. "They are lowering the entire tone of the neighborhood and I'm sure that they must smell bad too." "Let's call the police," suggests Froggy, "The police commissioner is a good friend of my father, I'm sure he'll pull a few strings for me and clear this riffraff out of here. I'll go and phone him right away." "I do hope that he can do it soon," remarks Janet to Buckwheat, after glancing at her gold wrist watch. "The New York Metropolitan Orchestra are due to arrive pretty soon to perform in our little impromptu Gang show and I wouldn't like them to see those scruffy little ragamuffins." "I wholeheartedly agree," replies Buckwheat, "If they saw those penniless scallywags the boys from the Met' might gain a completely wrong impression of this idyllic suburb." Just them Mickey arrives, wiping away tears from his eyes. "What has happened? What is wrong Mickey?" Asks Buckwheat. "One of t, t, those b, b, boys spoke to me," stutters the deeply upset Mickey. "What did he say?" Asks Janet. "He said 'Hullo' to me as I p, p, passed." "Oh the horrid beast!" storms a wide eyed Janet. "It's okay, here are the police," says Buckwheat, as seven squad cars arrive and quickly bustle the group of pauper children into the back of a large police van. "Thank goodness for that," says Janet, "We don't want any little rascals in our neighborhood do we?" "I should say not" agrees Buckwheat. "Little rascals are completely out of place here," agrees Mickey. "That was supposed to be my funny line," protests Froggy, as he rejoins the others, and they all laugh.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 1, 2013 0:46:33 GMT -5
The Life and Times of Alfalfa (1939) - In this dark short, Alfalfa becomes depressed when he sees Darla spending all of her time with Butch. Wishing he was never born, he nearly jumps off of a bridge when his guardian angel (Scotty Beckett, in his "Cousin Wilbur" persona) shows Alf what the world would be like if he was never born.
In this alternate universe, Buckwheat and Porky no longer have speech impediments. Spanky becomes a successful singer, Darla becomes a movie star (Darla Temple), Butch and Woim become model citizens, and Waldo becomes the youngest person to attend college.
Expectedly, the short ends with Alfalfa waking up in bed. It was all just a dream. Alfalfa says that it's good to be back, and falls asleep again.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 1, 2013 9:12:19 GMT -5
The Braided Bunch (1929) In this episode wealthy widower Mike Braided and his three sons, Joe, Harry and Wheezer (plus dog Tiger, sorry I mean Pete) team up with a lovely lady who has three children of her own, daughters Jean and Mary Ann and a son from a previous marriage called Farina. The short begins after the newly married couple have moved into their new family home, designed and built by architect Mike Braided. There is some friction at first, mainly between the two girls and the three Braided boys. The girls like to bake cakes and Joe likes to eat them, which leads to the girls complaining that they never even get the opportunity to taste their own food. Their mother sides with them and says that all four boys need to learn a lesson, even though Joe was the only one who actually ate the cakes. At meal times she serves only mush and boiled spinach to all four boys while the girls are treated to cream cakes and ice cream. The boys plot their revenge. Wheezer kidnaps Jean's favorite doll while Harry finds a new home, in the girls' beds, for his collection of frogs, mice and cockroaches. Joe just shrugs and wonders what the fuss is about as he likes mush and spinach anyway. In the end Mike Braided returns home from a day at his architectural firm and solves the problems. He reunites the family by pointing out that everything was really Farina's fault for being untrustworthy and a liar. The rest of the Braided Bunch immediately see the logic in what he's said and wholeheartedly agree. Harry punches the unfortunate Farina in the nose and then the family cheer loudly as Mike Braided escorts the wretched liar of a boy out of the house and tells him that in future he must sleep in Petey's dog kennel until he learns to behave. Petey is not amused and he bites Farina's leg. The rest of the Braided Bunch laugh. Apparently the plot of this short was later adapted and became the inspiration for a popular TV series of the late 1960s and early 1970s but I can't remember what it was called, sorry. Oh yeah I did read that one of the boys in the later TV adaption, a kid called Bobby I believe, actually wore the same trousers that Harry was wearing in the original production because he thought that they were hip, far out, with it and in the groove.
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